Dolphins GM Hickey non-committal on assistant Gaine; says he was in charge of Tampa Bay’s drafts

New Dolphins general manager Dennis Hickey was introduced by owner Stephen Ross on Tuesday not as a guy who will drastically change the team, but someone who will get along with coach Joe Philbin and team VP Dawn Aponte.

– Hickey was non-committal on whether he’ll keep assistant GM Brian Gaine. There has been a lot of speculation that Hickey instead will bring in former Bucs GM Mark Dominik, his boss in Tampa Bay.

Hickey said he has just begun his evaluations.

– Many people have wondered what Hickey’s role was in Tampa Bay’s recent drafts. Hickey said he has been in charge of Tampa Bay’s drafting process for the last decade.

The Bucs have had mixed results in the draft: some hits toward the top but less success in the mid and lower rounds.

Hickey also said he believes in drafting the best player available on the board as opposed to need picks, although Bucs recent draft history doesn’t always reflect that.
Ian Wharton, an analyst for DraftMecca.com said the Bucs’ recent drafts were similar to Miami’s under Jeff Ireland in that the Bucs went for area of need much of the time rather than choose the best player available. Miami deviated from that strategy in 2013 by trading up to select defensive end Dion Jordan.

“Ireland was almost predictable. He was going to draft exactly what position was most needed,” Wharton said. “The Buccaneers weren’t as strict to it, but they had a somewhat similar approach.”

Hickey, however, said a team shouldn’t even have to do any work on draft day and should have players ready to pick based on how they ranked them.

– Hickey said he was in the family mini van and just leaving church when he found out the Dolphins hired him. His first move? He brought his son to a sporting goods store to buy a Ryan Tannehill jersey. (If he had waited a day he probably could have gotten a real Tannehill jersey, but the family is clearly excited).

– While reports have said Hickey did not interview for Tampa Bay’s GM job opening, he said he did in fact have an interview for the job. Unlike the Dolphins, the Bucs did not officially release names of those interviewed. Hickey said he does not have an agent and did not feel the need to correct reports that said he didn’t interview for the job.

Trackbacks

[…] New Dolphins general manager Dennis Hickey was introduced by owner Stephen Ross on Tuesday not as a guy who will drastically change the team, but someone who will get along with coach Joe Philbin and team VP Dawn Aponte. Read the full story on Hickey’s debut here. Here a few extra tidbits: – Hickey was […] …read more […]